Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Due to global loss and degradation of salt marshes, restoration and conservation havebecome necessary to protect and preserve salt marsh systems. Restoration can exacerbate the common environmental stressors – salinity and drought – present in Mediterranean salt marsh ecosystems. Grading and clearing of land to restore tidal influence and remove non-native weeds creates large expanses of bare soil, increasing evaporation rates. As moisture is lost, salts are concentrated in the soil, making growing conditions more difficult for transplants. Multiple species are usually planted during revegetation efforts, but different species are likely to vary in tolerance to moisture and salinity stress; yet, the relative effect of these stressors on manyCalifornia salt marsh natives are unknown. To address this knowledge gap, we appliedgreenhouse watering treatments to five perennials common in central California coast salt marshes. We evaluated response to water volume and salinity by measuring survival, growth, and tissue water potential. As predicted, drought significantly reduced tissue water potential for all five species; however, only three species showed a significant decline in water potential with increasing of salinity treatments. Contrary to expectations, growth was unaffected by drought or salinity treatments. Our results suggest these species have broad tolerance to drought and salinitystress they may encounter in the salt marsh ecotone.